


Five Ringed Circus

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Olympics, Community: comment_fic, F/M, Het, Romance, Secret Relationship, alternate universe - different occupations, alternate universe - figure skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 12:57:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6754831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the eve of the Opening Ceremonies, a secret is revealed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Ringed Circus

**Author's Note:**

> Theme: different occupations  
> Prompt: http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/716058.html?thread=94633498#t94633498  
> Any, any, Olympic athletes

"So... I guess we need to talk." 

Caitlin chewed her bottom lip nervously as she stared at her room-mate, thankful that the Olympic Village was a closed shop, no outsiders, no press permitted. She was equally as glad that some of their team-mates had joined forces and promised her that they'd make sure as few athletes as possible made their way down the hallway outside their room : Barry, Iris's skating partner recently turned boyfriend was standing guard outside their door, while Oliver and Felicity, as much a team as ever, were stationed at one end of the hallway. Ronnie, Caitlin's own partner, was at the opposite end of the hallway, not too happy about the shitstorm that was erupting all around them, but not willing to throw his partner under the bus either.  Still though, Caitlin would be lying if she wasn't at least a little glad that ice dancers didn't have any of the difficult lifts or throw jumps that pairs skaters like Barry and Iris did - when she'd talked privately with Ronnie, he hadn't been happy. 

Still though, he'd been positively jovial when compared with the look Iris was giving her. 

"Yeah." She swung her feet off the bed onto the floor, chuckling with no real humour as she sat up. Her hands curled over the edge of the duvet, knuckle white. "The press are banging down our doors, social media and the Internet is in uproar and who knows what the hell people are whispering in the judges' ears, but by all means, Caitlin, let's talk."

Caitlin pressed her lips together and breathed in deeply through her nose, trying not to focus on the fact that everything Iris had said was true. "This wasn't supposed to happen like this." 

"You think?" The words were a little louder than Caitlin was expecting and her gaze swung around to the closed door behind her. When no-one came through it, she turned her gaze back to Iris who was now doing some deep breathing of her own. "I have dreamed of marching in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies since I knew what they were," Iris told her through gritted teeth. "And now, here we are, hours to go, and all the cameras are on me... me and Barry, me and my dad, for all the wrong reasons."

Deciding that to point out she was suffering the same fate would be counterproductive, Caitlin simply shook her head. "I never wanted this." 

Iris dragged a hand over her face. "Is this why you came to train with us?" 

Caitlin knew where that was coming from; she'd read the same internet speculation, every page of every message board and tumblr blog she could find until Ronnie had grabbed her phone from her hand and threatened to flush it down the toilet. "You know why we left Harrison," she reminded Iris. "He was spending all his time with Hartley and Ronnie and I were pushed to the back of the queue. At least in your rink, we had coaches who remembered who we were." 

"Except my dad did more than that." Iris's smile was a bitter twist of her lips and Caitlin felt a sudden pang for the friendship they'd begun to forge, a friendship that was now in all likelihood severely damaged, if not irretrievably broken. 

Still though, she wasn't going down without a fight. Hell, if her years in ice dancing had taught her anything, it was how to channel her inner diva. "He's your coach, Iris," she pointed out. "Not mine. There's no conflict of interest, no coercion, I'm way over the age of consent..." She crossed her arms over her chest. "We were going to wait until after the Games to tell you because we didn't want any distractions."

Iris rolled her eyes. "One Internet post took care of that, right?" 

Which is what really annoyed Caitlin because she and Joe had been so careful, every time they were together, to be the very models of decency and decorum. All it had taken was one quick brush of the lips when they'd thought they were alone and suddenly they were all over the Internet and shortly thereafter, the news networks, because one of Team USA's top coaches - and father of one half of their pair hotly tipped to land the first ever pairs gold medal for Team USA - being in a secret relationship with one half of current US ice dance champions was not a story that would stay quiet for long. 

"I suppose it could be worse." Caitlin twisted her fingers together, shrugged one shoulder. Iris raised an eyebrow, as if daring her to continue. "They could have caught Joe with Ronnie." 

Which is the only thing that would have made the story bigger and they both knew it. Still, the quip made Iris's jaw drop open slightly and she clamped it shut quickly, but not so quickly that a giggle didn't escape. "I suppose I've got to hand it to you," she said after a moment, her lips twitching. "Other skaters try to sabotage blades or costumes or laces, they cut you off in practice or hog the music... you're the first one who's tried to be my stepmother." 

Caitlin stared at her for a long moment, shocked at what she had said. 

Then before she knew it, she was laughing and Iris was laughing right along with her. 

When they both sobered up, she was sitting beside Iris on the bed and she reached out, closed her hand over the other girl's. "I never wanted to distract you," she said. "And I never wanted our Olympic experience to be this..." She groped for the words. "...Five ringed circus." She closed her eyes as she sighed. Iris closed her free hand over their joined ones and when Caitlin opened her eyes, she saw understanding in her friend's smile. "I just fell in love," she admitted quietly. "I never wanted it to be so complicated." 

Iris chucked. "Believe me," she said. "I know from complicated." When Caitlin blinked, she supplied, "Four years ago, my great partner swap? The Internet threw a fit then too. The Internet got over it." 

"Will you?" It was question Caitlin dearly wanted to know the answer to. "Get over it?"

To her everlasting surprise and delight, Iris nodded. "I already have," she said but anything else she might have wanted to say was lost as the door to their room flew open and Joe barrelled in, wide eyed and breathless. 

"We need to talk," he said, his gaze flickering between the two of them and Caitlin had no idea if he was addressing one or the other or both of them. 

It didn't matter though,  because Iris stood up. "Later, Dad," she said, kissing his cheek. "We have an opening ceremony to march in." She linked arms with him, then gestured to Caitlin to stand up and when she did, she did the same with her. "All three of us."

Joe looked from her to Caitlin, face blank but eyes nervous. "Are you sure?"

Iris stared him down. "I didn't come all this way to miss out on my dream," she said, in a tone that brooked no argument. 

"But the photograph-"

Once again, Iris didn't let her father finish his sentence. "Is a pretty crappy shot, Dad. I think we should give them a better one, don't you?"

With one brow perfectly arched, she said nothing more, just swept them out of the room and down the hallway, past their team-mates and friends and everyone else who had heard the news and just wanted to see what was going on. 

As it happened, coaches didn't march in the opening ceremony, so Joe watched from the stands as a thousand flashbulbs popped when Caitlin and Iris marched out arm in arm. Various shots of the two of them travelled all around the world and, weeks later, when those sixteen days of glory were consigned to memory, Joe had one of them framed for his wall. 

The frame was gold, to match the medals on either side, but every time Caitlin looked at that wall, she knew which of the three mattered most. 


End file.
